love, love, love all through our bodies
by lydiastilinskio
Summary: "I don't know how to describe it but it feels—complete, you know? Like, this is where we're supposed to be, where we were meant to be all along. And I just really love you—so much, Rach. And now we have him and I just feel better, about everything, you know? Happy—complete." Future!Finchel


_**And it'll be love, love, love all through our bodies  
**__**And love, love, love all through our minds  
**__**And it'll be love, love, love all over her face  
**__**And love, love, love all over mine**_

**One.**

Patience has never been Rachel's strongest suit. Some people say time waits for no man, but the reality is that time can wait for everyone except her. So yeah, her lack of patience is not her strongest suit and at the moment, it's proving to be her biggest downfall.

No one likes to wait, Rachel hates to wait, and more than that, people hate to make Rachel wait but sometimes it's inevitable. She's been sitting in front of her laptop for a solid three hours now doing nothing but waiting. Waiting for him to sign on so they could talk face-to-face (well, as face-to-face as two people could be when you're an oceans away from each other) just like he promised. But she's seen neither hide nor hair of him and she's just as heartbroken now as she was when they were apart in high school.

(It's the same ache, always for him).

When Finn had confided in her about his desire to join the army just like his father had, he had been monumentally disappointed when he realized his father wasn't who he thought he was. She had secretly hoped that the truth about his dad, the drugs and the dishonor, would have been enough to keep him by her side, safe and sound. But if he didn't go after his dream, he wouldn't be the man she married.

He's stationed at a military base across seas right now. It's been six months since she's seen him – touched him, held him, inhaled him. And six months is a long time for someone who isn't patient, and it's an eternity if you're Rachel Hudson.

She perks up considerably when his name finally appears on her screen and just like always, her heart races. He starts the video call with that lopsided grin that made her fall in love with him when they were just sixteen, and it takes everything in her not to cry.

"Rachel, baby. I'm so sorry I'm late," he begins apologetically. "God, I miss you so much. I don't know how much longer I can do this long distance thing. I feel like the worst husband ever because I haven't seen you in six months and it's our anniversary and I'm across the world when I should be with you in New York and I know this isn't what you signed up for and I'm really sorry."

"You're my husband, Finn—I'm your wife, through better and worse, sickness and health. And while it's certainly not ideal being half a world away from the one you love, you'll be home soon, right? And then we can—and then we can move on with the rest of our lives."

"I miss you everyday, I can't wait to come home to you. And I am, you know, coming home to you. I'll always come home to you. I love you so much, Rachel—you have no idea how much I love you."

"Oh of course I do, Finn." Her fingers tentatively stroke his cheeks through the computer screen, like she would do if he were really here, and a tear clings to her eyelashes as she watches him repeat the gesture to her. "I love you just the same, just as much—maybe more."

"Not possible."

Exhaling, her lips pull up into a smile. She's determined to lighten the tension between them so she bats her eyelashes in a way that's both funny and cute.

"I went shopping with Kurt today and I came across something I thought you might be interested in. Of course, after I bought it I realized there's really no point to wearing lingerie when no one is around to see you in it."

As she bites her lip and bats her eyelashes, she begins to play with the tie around her robe. She's teasing him, and she knows it, but if he's going to be overseas on their one year anniversary, then she damn well isn't going to make it very easy for him.

His reaction is priceless. Even through the computer, she watches with amusement as he shifts uncomfortably, eyes widening and blush creeping over his cheeks as he mulls over the implications of her words.

(She loves that even after a year of marriage and all those years before then, she can still have that effect on him).

"You—you're wearing—lingerie? What, um—what color?"

"It's black," she tells him. "But it's _really _uncomfortable...I think I'll just take it off. Maybe I'll even sleep naked."

"Rach—" he groans, voice low. "You're driving me crazy, and it's not so good to be crazy over here if you know what I mean."

She throws her head back in pure amusement, laughter falling from her lips and god, he just _misses_ her so damn much. "Are you in the tent?" He nods. "Are you alone in the tent?"

"Well, yeah but you know how I get when you _do_ stuff like that."

"If it gets to be too much for you, just think of the mailman." She watches with satisfaction as he swallows deeply before letting out a shaky breath, preparing himself for what's about to happen. Just before she lets her robe drop, she looks at him one last time, a coy smile on her face. "Oh, and Finn?"

He barely manages to choke out a "Y—yeah?" because he's _so_ turned on.

"Happy anniversary baby, I love you."

* * *

**Two.**

Rachel Hudson is simultaneously flabbergasted and livid. Has he always been this inconsiderate and downright oblivious?

It's their five year anniversary, and he had the nerve to _forget_. Yeah, he actually forgot their anniversary. Not only that, he went on to rub his forgetfulness in her face. He woke up, kissed her on the cheek, wished her a good day at work and then proceeded to tell her that when he got off work, he'd be catching a football game at Puck's place and won't be home until later.

She was ditched. On her anniversary. By her husband. For Puck and a football game. _Really_?

Needless to say, the rest of her day was awful. Not only did her husband forget their anniversary, but all her friends and family _remembered_, so she had to make up this big, elaborate story that Finn had the entire day planned out for them: dinner, a movie, a stroll in Central Park.

On her way home from work, she had spent equal time crying and thinking of different ways to kill him, or at least just make his life a living hell because _seriously_, he forgot their anniversary!

Since Finn decided to forget the most important day of the year (next to her birthday, Christmas and Hanukah), she decides to run a few errands. Her first stop is the doctor's office: Doctor Roberts greets her with a usual _good morning Mrs. Hudson!_ to which she bitterly replies _not for long_.

Yeah, it might be a little bit dramatic to divorce Finn over forgetting their anniversary, and it's not like she'd ever _actually_ divorce Finn—but she's _really_ mad, okay?

Anyways, her visit to the doctors was short and simple. Her next appointment won't be scheduled for another six to eight weeks, so she was good to go.

She's getting into the taxi when her phone rings, the Journey ringtone letting her know that it's Finn calling. She simply rolls her eyes and ignores his call, fighting the urge to throw the damn phone out the window.

By the time the taxi pulls up in front of the apartment building, the sun has set.

"Good evening Mrs. Hudson, don't you look lovely this evening," Jimmy (the buildings doorman, and the closest thing Finn and Rachel have to a friend in their building, including all of their neighbors) greets her with a smile as he opens the door.

"Hi Jim." She's about to step onto the elevator before she turns around abruptly, eyes narrowed in frustration. "I'm a good wife, right?"

"Pardon?"

"Sure, I didn't go to culinary school like Sugar—but I think I can put together a pretty good meal when I want to. I mean, is it my fault that Finn's favorite is spaghetti and _that's_ why I make it so often? And yeah, okay. I might not be as hot as Santana or as pretty as Quinn, but am I really _so_ bad to look at?"

"Mrs. Hudson, I don't—"

"Did you know that Santana phoned me the other day, actually accusing me that my marriage and all around sex life with Finn was too vanilla? Can you believe that?" She rolls her eyes indignantly. "Like, I'm sorry that I don't mount my husband in public places, but that doesn't mean we don't enjoy ourselves in private."

Jimmy's beginning to look extremely uncomfortable now, shifting awkwardly and avoiding eye contact with Rachel altogether. "Mrs. Hudson, I really don't think that this is the most appropriate conversation—"

"I'm so incredibly furious with Finn right now that I could just — ugh, I'm actually contemplating leaving an air mattress down here with you so he can sleep in the damned lobby!"

"I still don't understand, Mrs. Hudson."

"He forgot our anniversary! Today marks eight years since our first kiss and five years since we got married. And I had something _really_ important that I needed to talk to him about but he's not even here! He's over at stupid Puckerman's watching a stupid football game in Puck's stupid man cave!"

"I don't know what football game you're talking about, but Mr. Puckerman was here with Mr. Hudson not too long ago."

"You mean to tell me that not only did my husband forget our anniversary, but he brought his Neanderthal of a best friend over to our home to watch this travesty of a sport?"

She takes a deep breath and without another word, she's on the elevator, entire body shaking with rage as she watches the numbers indicate the floors until she is that much closer to divorce. Finally, the elevator dings and all but stomps through the halls before unlocking the door to their apartment and bursting through the door.

Expecting to come home to either an empty apartment, or an apartment filled with hungry, sports-crazed men, she's surprised to find the threshold of their apartment littered with rose petals, candles illuminating the dim room, save for the lights of New York City.

Confusion quickly washes away any and all sadness and anger she'd been harboring all day, her heart nearly jumps out of her chest when Finn suddenly appears at the end of the trail of petals, a crooked grin on his face.

"There you are!" His entire face floods with relief, and it doesn't take him long to sweep Rachel up in his arms and kiss the apple of her cheek before setting her down back on her feet. "I've been waiting for you, I tried calling your phone but it went straight to voicemail and then I called Quinn and she said that she talked to you earlier but she hadn't heard from you for a few hours and I was so worried about you—where were you, Rach?"

Incredibly confused, Rachel folds her arms across her chest and takes a step back to look at Finn. Instead of his usual t-shit and jeans combination, he's wearing a blue dress shirt with formal yet casual pants. He's even wearing a tie! "You hate ties," she mumbles.

"What?"

"You told me you were gonna be with Noah after you finished work—to watch football."

"Well, I _was_ with Puck, but not because of football...football season is over." He grins. "He came over here earlier and helped me set all this up, I wanted to surprise you. I even bought that fancy wine that you love so much."

If hearts could soar, hers would be on the moon. Tears flood her eyes and she takes another step back, like he has literally shocked her with his words (and he has). "You—you didn't forget? You remembered that today is our anniversary?"

"Well, yeah—of course I remembered. It's the same every year, Rach." His eyes narrow in confusion, and it's his turn to take a step back. "Wait a second, if you thought I forgot our anniversary, then where were you? Were _you_ with Puck?"

She rolls her eyes. "If I thought you were going to be with Noah, then why on earth would I be with Noah?"

"I don't know—I guess I just thought that—" he trails off, but she gets the message loud and clear. It takes like, a nanosecond for her hands to be balled up into ineffectual fists that push at his chest but really don't hurt him at all, a growl falling from her lips.

"You have some nerve, Finn Hudson! First of all, you make me believe that _you_ forgot _our_ anniversary so I wind up moping around town all day, running unnecessary errands just to delay coming home because I hate fighting with you, only to reveal the insecure teenager inside of me to Jimmy and then have you inadvertently accuse me of doing god knows what with Noah. I thought we were past high school, Finn!"

"Well _sorry_ for trying to do something nice for you!"

"Don't be sorry for trying to do something nice for me, be sorry for making me think you didn't care enough to remember!"

"Of course I care, Rach—_I_ asked _you_ to marry _me_ remember? And I'm sorry for lying, but I didn't mean to, I honestly just wanted to surprise you."

"Congratulations Finn, I'm surprised!"

"Oh come on, Rach, you're not really mad at me, are you?"

"Yes, I'm really mad at you! Today was a really hard day, and I needed you and you weren't there!"

"I'm always here, Rach."

Her gaze locks with his. "Yesterday I realized my period was over a month late so I took a pregnancy test and it was positive, so I grabbed the earliest appointment I could with Dr. Roberts and she confirmed it, I'm pregnant. And it was really, _really_ hard keeping this to myself all day, all the while thinking you forgot something as important as our anniversary."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing — Rachel is pregnant. She's pregnant, he's going to be a father and she's going to be a mother and they're gonna be like, a family.

"—Finn, are you even listening to me? God, that is so like you, to just tune me out whenever you get too stressed well guess what, it's not like today has been a picnic for me either, but the very least you could do is _pretend_ you care—"

His lips are on hers in a kiss that makes her knees go week and her argument dies on her tongue. He leans his forehead against hers and kisses the tip of her nose, the biggest smile she's ever seen him wear etched on his face. "You're pregnant. We—we're gonna have a baby."

He can feel the tension and anger rolling off her small body in waves and she finally smiles his favorite smile, and laughter is falling from her mouth and he really does love her so much. "We're gonna have a baby."

And he just wraps his arms around her waist and spins her around like she just told him they won the lottery.

He finally sets her back down on her feet, cups her face gently and kisses her lips.

(And in a lot of ways, they _did_ win the lottery because this is exactly the life he wanted to live with Rachel — their life).

* * *

**Three.**

Rachel smiles softly at her husband, her gaze so full of awe and adoration and his resolve fades instantly. He just didn't even have the strength to stay mad at her, and it's not like she could be faulted for caring so damn much. It was one of the thousand reasons why he loved her.

And yeah, this totally wasn't the way he pictured their anniversary. He had it all planned out and everything: romantic dinner at the Four Seasons and then a ferry ride on the Hudson River. But a pizza picnic in the middle of their living room is kind of the same, right?

"I'm sorry," she tells him when their done eating, a small smile on her face. "I know that you planned the whole evening out for just the two of us but I'm just not ready to leave him yet."

(Him being Christopher Kurtis Hudson, Finn and Rachel's three-month-old baby boy and the center of their universe).

Finn can't help the grin that falls on his face as he looks at his son, safely nestled in the crook of his beloved wife's arms. "I still can't believe it," he says quietly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She leans into him automatically, her body craving his touch even after all this time.

Kissing the underside of his jaw she quietly asks what he means. "You still can't believe what?"

"This, us; you, me and him," he tells her, smiling as Christopher yawns. "I don't know how to describe it but it feels—complete, you know? Like, this is where we're supposed to be, where we were meant to be all along. And I just really love you—so much, Rach. And now we have Chris and I just feel better, about everything, you know? Happy—complete."

And she knows exactly what he means. For the longest time, Rachel thought that Broadway and New York were her dream but this, nights like this spent with her loving husband and beautiful son, this is what dreams are made of. Love and family, Finn and Rachel and baby Chris – it's everything she's ever wanted and then some.

* * *

**Four.**

It's just after four o'clock in the afternoon when Kurt texts him –_We're all set up and ready for you guys!-_ and Finn is super excited because one of his favorite things to do other than love her endlessly, is to surprise Rachel.

She's always sort of prided herself on having a sixth sense, being a little bit psychic or whatever and no matter how many times he tells her that she's just good at guessing, she insists she's prone to premonitions and he'd rather placate her than argue so yeah, anyways, he's really excited to surprise her with this one thing.

Rachel dozed off about twenty minutes into _Funny Girl_, so he rubs his nose against hers and kisses the apple of her cheek and forehead. She stirs beneath his ministrations, a wide smile on her face when she looks up at him. "What time is it?"

"It's just after four. Kurt texted me, Chris wants to come home." And yeah, Finn totally knows that using their son as bait to get his wife out of the house is probably not the best thing to do as a parent—or a husband, but he _knows_ Rachel and there was no way she was budging from that couch without a good enough reason.

(He figures that pregnant or not, Chris is the perfect reason).

Carefully swinging her legs off the side of their bed, Rachel looks up at him, one eyebrow arched over her warm brown eyes and before the words are even out of her mouth, he just _knows_ what she's gonna say.

"I told you so."

Finn can't help but smile. "I know you did, babe."

"He's four years old, Finn. He's just not ready to be spending the entire weekend away from us." He watches with amusement and awe as she waddles around the room, changing out of her sweats and into a coral maxi dress. "And a mother knows these things but _no_, you said that he was a big boy and could handle two nights away from his parents. Well the joke is on you because now we have to drive all the way to Kurt's to pick him up when we just dropped him off this morning."

Rachel's always been dramatic, and that trait has sort of been exacerbated by her pregnancy, but he can't keep the exasperation out of his town when he reminds her, "Rach, it's a fifteen minute car ride."

She nearly throws her hairbrush at him before heading into the bathroom to pee (again). "Yeah, that's easy for you to say when you don't have to pee every five. _You_ don't have twin babies pressing on _your_ uterus."

Rachel emerges from the bathroom and she looks radiant. He loves her like this—pregnant and round with his child. He loves her endlessly and no matter what of course, but she's radiantly beautiful like this because all she does is _glow_.

Ten minutes more of bickering and peeing, they're on the road. She started to doze off the second she buckled her seatbelt, so she isn't aware of her surroundings until they're already parked in the driveway of what looks to be the epitome of the American dream.

"What are we doing here?" she asks when she finally comes to, anxiety and awe flooding her voice as she takes in her surroundings. "We're supposed to pick up Chris—"

Finn grins. "We are."

"What?".

"We are picking up Chris. Come on, let's go inside." Gently, he helps Rachel out of the truck and up the walkway. Without knocking, he opens the beautiful French door leading into the house and ushers her inside.

The first thing she notices—aside from the house being vacant of furniture and residents, is the crowd of her beloved friends and family standing in the kitchen with wide, welcoming smiles on their faces.

Above the doorway is a big banner that reads, _WELCOME HOME!_

"Finn," Rachel asks, turning to look up at her husband. Her brown eye are wide with a multitude of emotions—surprise, awe, confusion but always, love. "What is all of this?"

Wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek, he whispers, "Welcome home, baby—and happy anniversary."

* * *

**Five.**

He doesn't know what wakes him. It could be the way her cold feet are pressed against the warmth of his calf, or the way she's sprawled out on top of him. It might be the hints of sunlight streaming in through the curtains or it could be the way she's looking at him. Then again, it could very well be the banging of pots and pans downstairs in the kitchen that they can hear all the way upstairs.

He wraps his arms around her small frame and kisses her hair, burying his face in her neck. "Hey doll, do you remember the days when we were empty nesters—you know, the mornings we could actually sleep in on Sundays?"

"Oh baby, those days were over a _long_ time ago." Turning her head to look up at her husband, eyes full of unwavering adoration, she presses a gentle kiss to the underside of his jaw. At the sound of arguing, a groan escapes her lips and she reluctantly tears herself away from Finn's embrace. "Come on, let's go see what our little rascals are up to."

Quickly throwing on his t-shirt and slipping into her robe, Finn and Rachel quietly pad down the stairs hand in hand. They're prepared to catch their kids red-handed with their hands in the cookie jar but much to their surprise, when they enter the kitchen, all five of their beautiful children are working together towards a common goal—a goal that smells a lot like breakfast.

Christopher is standing at the stove, flipping bacon and scrambling eggs. By the toaster, Zachary is pouring juice into glasses and Nicholas is pouring coffee into Finn and Rachel's respective mugs. Sitting at the island, Ava and Sophia are coloring some sort of card.

It's a beautiful sight to behold—and it's theirs.

Deciding to wait until their called upon, Finn and Rachel quietly back out of the kitchen before they were seen and head back upstairs to their bedroom (again, hand in hand). Quietly closing the door behind them, Rachel can't help the childish giggle that escapes her lips.

"I can't believe they're doing all that for us; we really do have such great kids, Finn," Rachel says, voice brimming with pride and love.

"You might be jumping the gun a bit on that one, Rach. We don't know for sure that all five of our kids are working together to make us breakfast in bed—it could be for just them, maybe they're leaving us starving out in the cold," Finn says playfully, wrapping his arms around Rachel's waist.

Rachel twines her arms around his neck and looks up at Finn, a loving smile on her face. "Thank you," she whispers, awe flooding her voice.

Kissing the apple of her cheek, Finn asks, "Thank you? For what?"

"For what? For all of it! You and our kids, this house—this life. For loving me and cherishing me and adoring me all these years, endlessly and faithfully. You, Finn Hudson, are my first love. You are my last love—you are my only love."

Overwhelmed by his love for her, all he can do is wrap his wife in his arms and hold her close, kissing her hair and whispers words of love that could never relay what's been in his heart for as long as he can remember.

"You are _everything_, Rachel. I love you so much, my darling wife."

Locked in his embrace, she's pretty sure her heart swells—actually swells inside of her chest cavity, grows with her endless love for hiim, and his for her—grows and blossoms and flourishes; endlessly, beautifully and faithfully.

"Happy anniversary, my love."


End file.
